Lumber stacking machine



Jan. 18, 1949. B, BlRKHEAD 2,459,358

LUMBER STACKING MACHINE Filed Sept. 14, 1945 3 Sheets-Sheet l Iruler/tor By @Mazflz.

Jan. 18, 1949. B|RKHEAD 2,459,358

LUMBER STACKING MACHINE I I Inventor I -32'rkheadz WW 13 Jan. 18, 1949.3 BlRKHEAD 2,459,358

LUMBER STACKING MACHINE Filed Sept. 14, 1945 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 IN Inventar .Boszre 11 222 $2'1fiz'bead- Attorneys Patented Jan. 18, 1949lJNlTED STATES PATENT OFFICE LUMBER STACKING MACHIN E Boswell-M.-Birkhead, Ola, Ark.

Application September M, 1945, Serial No.- 616,348

3 Glaims.

The present invention relates to anovel and structurally distinctmachine which is expressly, but .not necessarily, adapted forexpeditiously and reliably handling and stacking boards, planks, timbersand other so-called lumber, the embodiment hereindisclosed beingparticularly useful and appreciably helpful in lumber yards wherevarious kinds andcumbersome pieces of lumber are customarily stacked inhigh orderly piles for compactness, convenience of inspection and accessand other'well known storage purposes.

'A machine constructed in accordance with the principles of the instantinvention, the same having been actually constructed and bein presentlyin use,. is such in type and construction that, handled by three men,'itcan actually :do the stacking work of eight menipursuingpresent daylaborious methods of lumber stacking.

Furthermore, a lumber-stacking machine .constructed and usedinaccordance with myideas is not only atime and labor saver, but actuallyaccomplishes the desired ends by more systematically and neatly stackingthe lumber, especially roughpieces, such as are'usually'inconvenient andtroublesome to handle, and, 'what is InOI8,ll3 promotes unusual economyin'that it .embodies'the use of an internal combustion engine or otherpower plant embodied in aihookup which obviates thenecessity of makingrepeated repairs and which is susceptible of operation'on a minimumbasis due to the relatively smallamount of fuel and'oil required foradequate powering results.

Another'object of the invention has to do with the provision ofprinciples of simplicity and economy in that the 'majority of mechanicalexpe'dients and parts are in many instances stock typesthese beingreadily available on the open'market and thereforesuch as to ave the Iway for satisfactory original assembling and subsequent replacements andrepairs.

Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will become morereadily apparent from'the following description and the accompanyingillustrative drawings.

In the drawings, wherein like numerals are employed to designate likeparts throughout the views:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of a complete, workable dumber-stackingmachine constructed in accordance with the principles and requirementsof the'present invention.

3 Figure '2 is :aside elevational view of the same showing the liftable-and lowerable lumber- .2 handling and conveyor assembly in an upwardlyinclined position.

Figure 3 is an enlarged fragmentary cross-section on the plane of theline"33 of Figure 2, looking in the direction of the arrows.

Figure 4 is'a front end elevation, ,that..is,'a view of the righthandendportion. ofFigure 2.

Figure. 5 .is an enlarged fragmentary section of theLdischarge ordumping end of the conveyor means or assembly,"the view'being onthe'line 55 of Figure 4.

Briefly, .and by way of .introduction to the detailed description, itis" to be explained that the overall structure "is characterizedtby a'portable base in the form of an openwork'frame structure,thisibeingprovidedwith flanged wheels fortravel on'suitabletrack rails..The liftableandllowerablelumber-han'dling and conveyor assembly ishingedly'mounted on the frame structure, and the various operatingdevices including the-power plant and pow-ertransmission -belt and otherparts are mounted, primarily,-within the confines of said framestructure.

Reference being had now to the various :main parts by distinguishingreference characters, it will 'be seen that the track rails 'A areconventional' and in" practice are laid-"alongside "of the stacks to beprogressively erected or piled -in thelumber yard, this'in awell knownmanner. The openwork frame orbasestructure'B is-provided with flangedrollers C movable along said track rails. Theprime-mover or power plant,a suitable type'motororengine, is-mounted-on the rear-or'lefthand'members-or cross-pieces of the frame structure and is denoted at D.The lumber-handling, elevating and conveying assembly or means isgenerally denoted by the ref erence character E.

The frame Bis primarily made up of lower horizontal rails l6 supporting"the rollers -or wheels C and supporting front,--rear-and intermediateuprights H, 12 and l3, respectively, these connected at their lower endsto the lower rails Hi and at their upper en'ds to the forwardly anddownwardly inclined'toppingrailsI l. in

practice I provide additional braces and frame parts, for example, theparts l5 and f6, asshown in the side elevation in Figure-2. However, itis perhaps not necessary to' describe each-and every minor detail of-theframe, as adaptations will vary in construction, obviously.

The motor or powerplant'D (see "Fig.-l) is suitably supported inthe-lower portion ofthe frame structureand hasappropriate. clutch-= andgear-shifting meansand-drives'the main power 3 supply shaft I1, thisbeing journaled in suitable bearings and provided with a small drivepulley I8 over which a motion-transmitting belt i9 is trained. Theopposite end of the belt (see Fig. l in particular) is trained over alarger speedreducing pulley 2B keyed on a driven or power take-off shaft2! journaled in suitable bearings secondary motion-transmitting belt 21is operable.

Incidentally, the latter belt 21 is also trained at I may well designatethe belt I9 as the main belt and the belt 21 as the secondary belt.

one end over a pulley 23 on a third or stub-shaft 29 suitably mountedfor rotation in the frame structure. The numeral 30 designates anadapter or auxiliary frame within the main frame which 1 supports aU-shaped bail 3| (see Fig.4) carrying a belt-tightener pulley 32 overwhich the secondary belt is trained. Through a suitable pulley the belt27 drives a short shaft 33 having a pinion 34 in mesh with a gear 35(see Fig. l), the gear being on one end of the motion-transmitting shaft36 and having another gear 3'! at its opposite end to drive the motionpick-up gear- 38 on the winch. or drum shaft 39. The latter shaftextends transversely and completely across I i the median portion of theframe structure and is provided at opposite ends with cable-windingdrums 40 which operate in a manner to be hereinafter described. It willbe noticed that the winches or drums 40 are provided with ratchet wheels4| with which pawls or dogs 42 coa-ct, said dogs being mounted foractuation on and by a rocker shaft 43, this journaled for oscillation inbearings in the frame structure and having a suitably available handlever a l at one end to be controlled by one of the attendants oroperatives.

The lever 45 seen on the same side of the frame structure operatesanother rocker mounted for oscillation in suitable bearings, this inturn controlling a link i'i which serves to adjust the belt-tightenerstirrup or bail 3|. Thus,

open-type framework or frame structure B, the power plant, the powerpropulsion and main and auxiliary power take-01f shafts, and main andsecondary belts cooperable therewith for controlling the various shaftsthrough the pulleys shown. In so doing I have traced the ways and meansof supplying motive power to the drum shaft 39 on the one hand and theconveyor chain shaft 25 on the other.

Referring further to the last-named shaft 25, it will beseen that it isprovided at opposite ends with sprocket wheels 48 toa-ccommodatesprocket chains 49, there being another auxiliary sprocketwheel at 50 to accommodate an endless sprocket chain 5i. The oppositeends of these three sprocket chains, that is, the upper ends, coact withsprocket wheels on a complemental shaft 25a, this being mounted inbearings between the upper ends of the T-shaped beams or arms 52 (seeFig. 3) of the liftable and lowerable lumberhandling conveyor assemblyor means E.. The two main sprocket chains .49 are provided with shaft 46I have covered the general construction of the suitable lugs or spurs 53(see Fig. 5), and these lumber and carry the the discharge end. Thelumber is discharged over the upper end of the structure E and thepieces are piloted down by way of the guides or fingers 54 arrangedabove the pile or stack of lumber (not shown). It will be noted inFigure 2 that the lower ends of the arms 52 are hingedly attached to thefront end of the frame structure,

as indicated at the points 55. Any suitable bearings and shaftconnections may be utilized in accomplishing this, it being the mainpurpose or the present disclosure to show the entire unit E pivoted atone end and liftable and lowerable, that is, movable up and down inrelation tothe relatively stationary underlying frame structure B.

The means for raising and lowering the unit E comprises a pair of levers56 (see Fig. 2) of appropriate construction and of suitable lengths,these being pivotally mounted at their lower ends, as indicated at '51.provided with idling rollers 58 which track back and forth in the guideand retention channels provided therefor. The numeral 59 designates asheave mounted for idling on the pivoted link 66 provided therefor. Acable 6! is stationarily anchored on an eye Men the front post Ii, asshown at the left in Figure 2, and this cable is trained over the sheave59 and the return reach or run 63 extends forwardly and downwardly andthen over a stabilizing pulley 64 on the front post i l, the cable thengoing back to and being wound on the adjacent or coacting winch or drum40.

Looking back now over the machine which has been, it is believed, amplyand specifically described, it will be seen that all of the principaland essential parts are mounted on and sup-.

ported within the confines of the open framework B. The latter serves asa base or support for the lumber-handling, elevating and dumpingconveyor means E, and the structure E is hinged on the framework and israised up and down through the medium of the levers 56 on opposite sidesof the framework. It follows that the framework is shifted back andforth on the rails A by way of the wheels C and brought alongside of thestack in the making. The stack is partly stacked, as a general rule, byhand until it reaches an elevation wherethe machine will take over, asit were. attendants simply place the machine in operation and then placethe boards or planks one. by one transversely across the conveyor chain.The end portions of the planks are held against slippage by the conveyorlugs 53. Thus, as the endless chains 49 are driven around by themechanism described, the pieces of lumber are carried in a step-by-stepmanner up and then discharged over the upper end of the means E beingmore or less guided down on the top of the pile by the delivery andguide fingers 54. As the height of the pile increases, the elevation ofthe conveyor E also gradually increases. This is due to the fact thatthe winding and reeling means made up of the cables 6i, sheaves 59 and64, and winding drums or winches 4!) take care of this.

That is to say, the drum shaft 39 is constantly rotated at the desiredspeed by the belt andgearmeans already described. Retrograde rotation isprevented by the pawl and ratchet -mechanism shown. on'the drum exertsthe necessary lifting on the links 66, and these in turn graduallyelevate'the levers 5B and the antifriction rollers or wheels 58 pressedagainst the under sides of the beams same from the intake to The upperends are When this happens, the

Consequently, the reeling of the cables easogees or rrails; and swingsame.- gradually up. When ittis desired to lower the-structure, thepawls ,or dogs are released and the cables 6| are unwound in anobvious-"manner.

A careful consideration of the foregoing description in conjunction withthe invention as illustrated inthe drawings. will enable the reader toobtain a clear understanding-and impression of the alleged features ofmerit and novelty sufficient to clarify theconstructionpf the inventionas-hereinafter claimed.

:Minor changes in shape, size, materialsqzand rearrangement of partsmay'be resorted ato;in actualpractice so long as no departure is madefrom the invention as claimed.

I' claim:

'1. In a lumber handling and-stackingrmachine ofthe'class described, anopen-style framework constitutingia relatively fixed-base, a powergplantmounted on said framework and including a drive shaft, a complementaldriven shaft mounted on said framework, a pulley on said drive shaft, asecond pulley on said driven shaft, a propulsion belt trained over saidpulleys for operating said driven shaft, a lumber conveying, elevatingand stacking unit embodying a pair of complementail arms located one oneach side of the framework, the forward ends of said arms being hingedlymounted on the forward end portion of said framework, a sprocket shaftmounted in the rear upper ends of said arms, sprocket wheels mounted atopposite ends of the latter shaft, a second sprocket shaft mounted onthe forward end portion of said framework beyond and in advance of thehinged ends of said arms, sprocket wheels keyed on the opposite endportions of said second named sprocket shaft, endless conveyor chainsdisposed in parallelism with each other and spaced from one another andtrained over respective coacting sprocket wheels on the end portions ofthe sprocket shafts, an operating connection between said driven shaftand said second named sprocket shaft, means for raising and loweringsaid arms in respect to the framework, said means embodying levers, saidlevers being similarly arranged one on each side of the intermediateportion of the framework and said lever being pivotally anchored attheir lower ends on said framework, idling rollers mounted on the upperends of said levers and in rollable camming contact with intermediateportions of said arms, a pair of sheaves, one for each lever, linkspivotally attaching the respective sheaves to the upper portions of therespective levers, cables securely anchored at corresponding ends on theupper portion of the front end of said framework, intermediate portionsof said cables being trained over said sheaves, a horizontal cablewinding shaft mounted for operation on said framework on a plane belov.the anchored ends of said cables and provided with cable winding drums,said cables being reelable at their remaining ends on the drums, and anoperating connection between the winding shaft and the aforementioneddriver: shaft.

2. In a lumber handling and stacking machine of the class described, anopen-style framework constituting a relatively fixed base, a power plantmounted on said framework and including a drive shaft, a complementaldriven shaft mounted on said framework, a pulley on said drive shaft, asecond pulley on said driven shaft, a propulsion belt trained over saidpulleys for operating said driven shaft, a lumber conveying, elevatingand stacking unit embodying a pair of complemental anms locatedone-onaeach-sidev of the framework, theliff'orward ends. of said: arms.being; hingedly mounteds onathe forward end portion of said framework,a-sprocket shaftmounted in. the rear uppertends of said arms, sprocketwheels mounted atvopposite-ends of said latter shaft, a second sprocketshaft mounted on the forward end portionizofmsaidframework beyond and inadvancevof the hinged ends of said arms, sprocket wheelsrskeyed on theoppositeiend portions of saids'secondtnamed sprocket shaft, endlessconveyortchains;disposed iniparallelism with each otherzzandszspacedfrom one another and trained over v-respectivercoacting sprocket wheelson the endsportionsof -the sprocket shafts, an operatingconnectionbetween said driven shaft and said secondrnamed sprocketshaft; means. for 3 raisin a-nd,:-iowering:said arms'inrespect to theframework,- =;said means rembodying levers, said levers being properlyarranged one on each side of the intermediate portion of the frameworkand said levers being pivotally anchored at their lower ends on saidframework, idling rollers mounted on the upper ends of said levers andin rollable camming contact with intermediate portions of said arms, apair of sheaves, one for each lever, links pivotally attaching therespective sheaves to the upper portions of the respective levers,cables securely achored at corresponding ends on the upper portion ofthe front end of said framework, intermediate portions of said cablesbeing trained over said sheaves, a horizontal cable winding shaftmounted for operation on said framework on a plane below the anchoredends of said cables and provided with cable winding drums, said cablesbeing reelable at their remaining ends on said winding drums, and anoperating connection between said winding shaft and the aforementioneddriven shaft, and additional sheaves coacting with said first namedsheaves, said additional sheaves being rigidly mounted on the forwardend portion of said framework, the intermediate runs of said cablesrunning forwardly over and then rearwardly from said fixed sheavesbefore said remaining ends are attached to and wound on said windingshaft.

3. In a lumber handling, elevating and stacking machine of the classdescribed, a portable horizontally located framework, an elongatedelevator unit disposed over and above said framework and bodilyswingable toward and from the framework and embodying a pair of spacedparallel arms, said arms being located adjacent opposite sides of saidframework and hingedly mounted at their forward ends on the forwardupper portion of said framework, said arms being rectilineariy straightand embodying longitudinally extending, channel-like track portions, 2,horizontal sprocket shaft mounted for rotation on the forward intake endof said framework, said shaft being adjacent to the hingedly mountedends of said arms, sprocket wheels keyed on end portions of saidsprocket shaft, a second horizontal sprocket shaft mounted for operationon the rear discharge end portions of said arms, sprocket wheels mountedon the end portions of said last named sprocket shaft, a pair of endlesssprocket chains, said chains being trained over the respective coactingsprocket wheels on said first and second named sprocket shafts, saidchains being situated in alignment with said arms and the upper runs ofthe chains being in direct sliding contact with the arms, and liftingand lowering means for said elevator unit comprising a" a pair ofduplicate levers, said levers being situated one on each side of theintermediate portion of said framework and hingedly connected at theirlower ends to said framework, said levers being provided, at their upperends with idling rollers, saicl rollers riding in contact with the trackportions of said arms, a drum shaft mounted for rotation on the lowerintermediate portion of said framework and provided with cable Windingdrums, a prime mover on said framework, an operating connection betweenthe prime mover and drum shaft, sheaves swingably mounted on theintermediate portions of said levers, additional complemental sheavesfiX- edly'mounted on the forward end portion of said framework, andlever lifting and lowering cables anchored at corresponding upperforward ends on said framework and trained over the coacting sheaves andhaving their rear ends wound on said drums in a manner to raise andlower the levers through the medium of the sheaves and cables.

BOSWELL M. BIRKHEAD.

REFERENCES orrnn I The following references are of of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 504,589 Kaime Sept. 5, 1893530,296 Aiken Dec. 4, 1894 391,140 Brown June 16, 1908 1,505,732 SimonAug. 19, 1924 1,558,300 Searles Oct. 20, 1925 1,669,613 Greer May 15,1928' 1,673,559 Hanak June 12, 1928 1,796,495 Veilleux Mar. 17, 1931record in the n

